There's a racetrack with a funny name in Germany that, in the eyes of many international enthusiasts, is the de facto benchmark for automotive performance. But the Nürburgring, a 13-mile (20 km) track often called the Green Hell, rarely hits the radar of mainstream US performance aficionados. That's because American car companies rarely take the time to run cars there, and if they do, it's in secrecy, to test pre-production machines cloaked in camouflage without publishing official times.
The track's domestic profile has lately been on the rise, though. Late last year, Ford became the first American manufacturer to run a sub-7-minute lap: 6:57.685 from its ultra-high-performance Mustang GTD. It then did better, announcing a 6:52.072 lap time in May. Two months later, Chevrolet set a 6:49.275 lap time with the hybrid Corvette ZR1X, becoming the new fastest American car around that track.
It's a vehicular war of escalation, but it's about much more than bragging rights.
The Green Hell as a must-visit for manufacturers
The Nürburgring is a delightfully twisted stretch of purpose-built asphalt and concrete strewn across the hills of western Germany. It dates back to the 1920s and has hosted the German Grand Prix for a half-century before it was finally deemed too unsafe in the late 1970s.
It's still a motorsports mecca, with sports car racing events like the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators, but today, it's better known as the ultimate automotive performance proving ground.
Giles Jenkyn Photography LTD/Ford The Mustang GTD is essentially a road-going version of the Mustang GT3 racecar. The Mustang GTD is essentially a road-going version of the Mustang GT3 racecar. Giles Jenkyn Photography LTD/Ford Chevrolet While there is also a Corvette GT3 racer, the ZR1X is more like GM's take on Ferrari and McLaren's hybrid hypercars. While there is also a Corvette GT3 racer, the ZR1X is more like GM's take on Ferrari and McLaren's hybrid hypercars. Chevrolet The Mustang GTD is essentially a road-going version of the Mustang GT3 racecar. Giles Jenkyn Photography LTD/Ford While there is also a Corvette GT3 racer, the ZR1X is more like GM's take on Ferrari and McLaren's hybrid hypercars. Chevrolet
It offers an unmatched variety of high-speed corners, elevation changes, and differing surfaces that challenge the best engineers in the world. "If you can develop a car that goes fast on the Nürburgring, it's going to be fast everywhere in the whole world," said Brian Wallace, the Corvette ZR1's vehicle dynamics engineer and the driver who set that car's fast lap of 6:50.763.